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The Red and Black. Tuesday. February 21, l»7H
Page ?i
MITCHEL FELDMAN
Elektra-Asylum gears in to R&B
Minding the store
Athens Mayor Upshaw Bentley signed a
proclamation Tuesday declaring the week of
Feb. 27-Mar. 3 as ‘‘Food and Your Well-Being
Week ” Sponsored by the University’s student
chapter of the Institute of Technologists, the
week will feature a symposium at the Georgia
Center for Continuing Education. National
experts on nutrtion. food safety, food and the
elderly, and government responsibility will
speak in discussions open to the public. This
is the fifth year that the symposium has been
held on campus. Looking on (I to r) are Ann
Braughon. (symposium coordinator), Nancy
Brach and Tom Rogers.
I don't know about you, but
when I think about Elektra-
Asylum Records the names
Linda Ronstadt. Tom Waites.
Joni Mitchell. Jackson Browne
and Marry Chapin usually
come to mind. Well. E-A has
taken a major step in the jazz
market; a jazz-fusion line has
been created, geared mainly to
the black rhythm and blues
buying market And the first
batch of releases featuring
albums by Dee Dee Bridgewa
ter, Lenny White and Roy
Ayers and Ubiquity, is now in
the stores.
This column usually deals
with mainstream jazz, not
fusion, but the Bridgewater
and White albums are excel
lent and deserve to be
highlighted;Roy Ayers’ album
is better left for someone who
can truly appreciate funk and
disco...a realm of music this
reviewer has difficulty being
objective about.
Dee Dee Bridgewater may
be an unfamiliar name to
many. In the late 60's she was
the featured vocalist with the
Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Big
Band Orchestra, a mainstream
jazz institution for years She
then joined Norman Conners'
band and was featured on the
drummer's landmark jazz-
crossover Ip; a stint with
bassist Stanley Clarke followed
and then came THE BIG
BREAK
We re a good bit off-Broad-
way down here in Athens, but
a black version of The Wizard
of Oz called The Wiz. was one
of the hottest musicals to hit
the Great White Wav since
Cleavon Little and Melba
Moore starred in Purlie in the
early part of 1970.
Bridgewater played Glinda
the Good Witch in The Wiz
and her brief (five minutes)
appearance on stage won her
the coveted Tony Award. In
1976. Bridgewater joined Roy
Ayers' Ubiquity as lead
vocalist untM she embarked on
her solo career and recorded
Just Family this past October
The album was produced and
arranged by Stanley Clarke, a
monster of a composer and
musician in both a jazz and
classical sense The musicians
featured on the Ip reads like a
list from Who's Who in Jazz.
Both Chick Corea and
George Duke appear on
keyboards. Clarke and Alphon-
so Johnson share the bass
playing chores. Ray Gomez
and David T-Bone Walker are
on guitar. Harvey Mason’s on
drums and Airto Moreira,
earth's best rhvthm machine
Jazz
notes
Airplane search started
BRUNSWICK UPI-
Searchers combed both land
and water in the Cumber
land Island area south of
Brunswick Monday for a
small airplane believed to
have crashed over the
weekend with four men
aboard.
While three helicopters
went over the area by air.
ground parties tramped
over the island and also
checked the numerous
stream and river outlets in
the area for any trace of the
missing plane.
The single engine Piper
Cherokee vanished Satur
day afternoon after pilot
Joe Klartfield. of Bailey,
N.C.. reported the plane out
of fuel and falling. Hartfield
had earlier tried three
times to make an instru
ment landing at nearby
Jekyll Island but was
unable to do so because of
bad weather.
Later, two airliners and
some other small planes in
the area reported picking
up a locator beacon signal
that is triggered when a
plane crashes. Searchers
were unable to find any
trace of the plane over the
weekend however.
The other three men on
the plane were identified as
Kay Wallace of Jackson
ville, N.C.. Jimmy Kerby of
Florence, S.C , David Short
of Lake Helen. Fla.
The four were said to
have been flying from the
Carolinas to Daytona
Beach. Fla., for the Day
tona 500 stock car race
Sunday.
College classes resume
ALBANY UP I—Classes
resumed Monday for some
1500 undergraduates at Al
bany State College which
was virtually shut down by
a flu epidemic last week.
Dr. J.L. Shirley, physi
cian for the college, said
only a few new cases of flu
had lH*en reported Shirley
said he felt the suspension
of classes last Thursday
prevented the outbreak
from becoming more ser
ious.
The number of flu cases
was running between 40 and
100 a day just before the
suspension.
Shirley said the Center for
Disease Control was testing
specimens from students to
determine just what type of
influenza was involved in
the epidemic.
Unhealthy cattle killed
ATLANTA UPI Georgia
Agriculture Comissioner
Tommy Irvin said Monday
a full time inspector has
been posted at a small
Dalton meat slaughtering
plant after reports that
some unhealthy cattle were
killed there.
“We put them under
full-time inspection because
there were reports that they
were allowing some cattle
onto the scene that weren’t
completely healthy,” Irvin
said of the Dalton Slaugh
terhouse.
But Irvin said no lines or
civil charges were ever
brought against the Dalton
facility because investi
gators failed to turn up any
hard evidence that sick
cattle were being slaugh
tered. or that the meat was
put on the market.
The owner of the slaugh
ter house, Bernice Free
man. said she was unaware
of any diseased cattle that
were killed Under law,
some smaller plants are
allowed to slaughter cattle
for individual users outside
the presence of inspectors
Ethics urged for solons
ATLANTA UPI—Common
Cause will present the
Georgia General Assembly
with a code of ethics plan
and a recommendation that
it be adopted before the
lawmakers adjourn, it was
announced Monday.
Larry Thomason, chair
man of the organization's
Georgia group, said he
would turn over the pro
posed code to House Speak
er Tom Murphy and Lt.
Gov. Zell Miller, presiding
officer of the Senate.
Thomason said “Mea
sures eliminating conflicts
of interest and other dark
clouds from the legislature
are long overdue."
He said the proposed code
would bar legislators from
"acting, debating, and vot
ing" on any bills where a
possibility of financial
interest existed, and would
require the lawmakers to
make "periodic publication
of personal disclosure re
ports."
Ur*'
We’d love to hear from you.
Senate stops utility raise
ATLANTA UPI The Senate
voted Monday to stop utility
companies from automatically
raising electricity and gas bills
to cover rising fuel costs but
tentatively defeated a bill to
stop power companies from
passing advertising costs on to
homeowners.
A complex package of sales
tax increases and exemptions
emerged from a Senate sub-
commitee more jumbled than
it was a week ago. when
frustrated senators dropped it
in the Banking. Finance and
Insurance committee for un
tangling.
As amended by a subcom
mittee, the bill would raise the
sales tax from three to four
percent while exempting gro
ceries and prescription medi
cines from all sales tax. The
whole package would be
contingent upon future passage
of an educational block grant
bill compensating counties
for property tax reductions
made possible by the sales tax
Ixxtst.
Sen. Roscoe Dean. D-Jesup.
outmanuevered the Senate
leadership with his bill abolish
ing the ‘fuel adjustment
clause” with which utility
companies automatically add
coal and oil costs to household
power bills. The bill came to
the floor originally as a
requirement that the Public
Service Commission run audits
on fuel adjustment charges,
but Dean got a surprising 43.8
vote to substitute simple
abolition of the automatic fuel
adjustment, and the Senate
then approved the final bill
47 4
Under Dean's language,
Georgia Power Co.. Savannah
Electric Power Co and Atlanta
Gas Light Co. would have to go
back before the PSC month by
month to justify their rising
fuel charges.
“We’re allowing the utility
companies to charge these
mind-boggling rates without
review,” said Dean “They've
gone virtually unchecked."
Opponents argued that it
would just waste the PSC
staff's time to hold hearings
on rising fuel rates, when the
companies clearly have to pay
more for their power supplies.
Dean countered that there is
“nothing sacred" about the
fuel adjustment, and that the
automatic pass-along provides
no incentive for the power
companies to shop around for
the cheapest fuels.
“The fuel adjustment was
not made in heaven,” said
Dean. “This is something that
is spreading like a fungus. This
is legalized thievery.
Dean was less successful, at
least initially, with his bill to
stop utility companies from
including advertising costs in
the rate bases borne by
consumers. The Senate voted
24*29 to tablt it. but Dean
immediately tried to get the
bill back on the floor for more
discussion.
In addition to advertising.
Dean sought to exclude cost of
construction work in progress
frcm utility rates • arguing
that today s consumers should
not pay for plants not yet
operating.
The House voted 146-16 for a
bill to charge s? r>o for all
license tags for personal
vehicles such as automobiles
and pickup trucks. Under the
present system, tag fees based
on weight of the vehicles can
range from $5 to $15.
Rep Dick Hutchinson. D-Al
hany, the sponsor of the bill
said it was supported by the
Revenue Department because
it would cut administrative
costs by 10 percent. But Rep.
Dorsey Matthews, D-Moultire,
argued the uniform fee would
raise the cost for a pickup
while lowering it for the
heavier Cadillac.
The House also voted 155-7
for legislation which will mean
a slight increase in teacher
retirement benefits. But be
cause it first amended the
measure to cut out a formula
change which would have
mandated greater increases
spread over the next four
years, sponsor Rep. Ray
Tucker. D-McDonough, voted
against his own bill.
Appropriations Chairman
Joe Frank Harris, D-Carters-
ville. argued successfully
against Tucker’s formula
change saying plan "tie down”
future legislatures to spending
money to fund the increases
...and write a letter
to the editor in The
Red and Black.
THE
USMARINES
l ■
WANT YOU
the student body of
Tne University of Georgia
To hear about some unusual career opportunities avail
able to men and women—whtle they stay in school and
alter they graduate Marine Corps career programs—in
data processing, telecommunications avionics, finance
business management to name iust a few—are among
the best offered in or out of the military Find out all the
facts, when we visit your campus
On campuft at the University Boofcator* from « 00 am to 3 00 pm
February 23 24. IV7I
without guarantees the state
will have the money.
As passed, the bill would
average the highest consecu
tive three years of a teacher’s
salary to compute benefits
instead of the highest consecu
five five years, as is done at
present.
Meanwhile. Senate Appro
priations Chairman Paul
Broun. D-Athens. said Senate
action on Busbee's $2.4 billion
1979 budget has been held up
by technical disagreement on
how much money will he
needed to continue existing
programs.
Broun said Senate budget
leaders worked though the
weekend without finalizing
their recommendations to the
full appropriations comittee
The Senate is expected to
restore several Busbee pro
grams cut by the House and
scale down higher pay raises
for state employees approved
the House.
Broun said it would be at
least Wednesday before final
recommendations are made to
the committee.
The main hold up. said
Broun, is varying "continua
tion levels”—spending nece
sary just to continue existing
programs- between the house
budget. Busbee’s budget office
and some department heads
The continuation levels have
to be settled before budget
writers know how much money
is left over to fund new
programs.
is on percussion Not bad. and
last but not least. Scarlet
Rivera the violinist in Dylan's
Rolling Thunder Review ap
pears on a powerful interpreta
tion of Elton John’s “Sorry
Seems to be the Hardest
Word" ending side one.
The title track is an upbeat
disco-dancer with excellent
funk accompaniment by Duke
and Clarke; Ndugu Leon
Chancier. Duke’s drummer on
his last seven lps. keeps the
beat, and the most interesting
thing about all this talent in
the background is that they
stay in the background and let
Bridgewater take the fore.
"Maybe Today" with words
and music by Gilbert Moses is
a tour de force which shoots
Bridgewater right up there in
the blues category with Are
tha. Roberta Flack. Natalie
Cole and Patti Labelle. Side
one is rounded out with
"Children are the Spirit of the
World." a foot-tapper on which
you can feel the tightness of
the rhythm section composed
of Duke. Clarke and Ndugu.
Side two is not as strong but
there are some highlights The
last song, a short poem to a
"Melody Maker," is light and
airy and Bridgewater is
supported solely by Correa and
Airto Once again there are a
couple of tunes to hustle
to—"Sweet Rain" and "Open
your Eyes" (Airto's prominent
here)-but "Thank the Day,"
like "Maybe Today," features
Bridgewater's powerful vocal
range in a love song A
pleasant surprise is a Latin
version of Michael "Popsicle
Toes" Franks' "Night Moves"
with a guest appearance by
Bobby Lyle on piano
Lenny White's got himself a
rock-jazz fusion album he
co-produced with A1 Kooper
(!). The title and cover reflect
the concept which went behind
the production of The Adven
tures of the Astral Pirates.
There is a Star Wars influence
in the little stories which
accompany the songs with
such titles as "Mandarin
Warlords." "Universal Love."
"The Great Pyramid." "Stew .
Cabbage and Galactic Beans"
and "Assault.”
Side one. called "Pursuit"
has some spacy production as
the theme for Astral Pirates is
introduced, and White's drum
ming starts off the "Pursuit "
White, who was the drum
mer in Chick Corea's Return to
Forever on Where Have I
Know You Before. No Mystery
and Romantic Warrior, uti
lizes his fusion skills for a
jazzy first side; “Mandarin
Warlords" is the best cut on
this side for jazz lovers.
"Universal Love." on the same
side, sounds like a mixture
between Earth. Wind and Fire
and the Sons of Champlin at
their best
Few people realize that the
drummer on Miles Davis'
landmark album for fusion
jazz Bitches Brew recorded
10 years ago. was the then
19-year-old Lennv White With
White and Davis on the Ip w ere
Joe Zawinul and Wayne
Shorter (Weather Report),
Corea and Herbie Hancock
Each of these musicians have
forayed into the realm of
fusion after their tenure with
Miles, and White has chosen to
emphasize a good bit of rock in
his second solo Ip
With the help of guitarist
Nich Moroch side two is
mainly driving Jeff Beck type
music The final selection."Cli
max. Theme for Astral Pi
rates." is a bit closer to the
sound created by White as a
part of Return to Forever
It's refreshing to see some
thing new and different coming
from a company which can't
help but make its money on
top-40 hits ("Blue Bayou,”
“Poor. Poor. Pitiful Me.”
"Take it Easy." “Doctor My
Eyes." etc.). The move into
jazz was a daring one for
Klektra-Asylum a decision
which took months of discus
sion and strategy planning
That move was not a
mistake if these first two
albums are any indication, and
you can look forward to
albums from Donald Byrd.
Michael White and others in
the future One thing s for sure,
if the rest of the records have
covers as intriguing as the one
on The Adventures of the
Astral Pirates, they'll sell just
for the beauty and creativity of
the artwork involved'
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